


They Don’t Need To Know

by Oighear



Series: Black Clover Soulmate Tattoo AU [3]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Misunderstandings, No event is canon anymore, Or to do a compelling summary, Or to find a title, Post-Spade Kingdom Arc (Black Clover), Soulmate-Identifying Marks, i still don't know how to tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28957737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oighear/pseuds/Oighear
Summary: Sequel to “Erase My First Words To You” (Part 1).Following the events of the Spade War, Asta and Noelle resume their jobs as Magic Knights as they’re still trying to figure out the nature of their feelings.The series' order can be confusing, you can read the series description to clear everything up
Relationships: Asta/Noelle Silva
Series: Black Clover Soulmate Tattoo AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068773
Comments: 89
Kudos: 136
Collections: IAmStoryteller's Best of Black Clover Fic Rec





	1. Noelle - Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is. I still haven’t written everything for this part, and I still haven’t figured out that thorny bit in the middle, but you’re usually quite insightful so I’ll publish what I have for now. This is part 2 of the Astelle storyline for the Soulmate Tattoo AU (so make sure you’ve read part 1 before!) and I’m starting with Noelle this time.

Living at the base had become a nightmare. 

Noelle had found a home at the Black Bulls’ hideout. She had become fond of living there, she appreciated the warmth, and the shabby rooms were quite charming in her eyes now. Even the nonsense of the layout rearranging everyday had grown on her, providing her with a surprise every morning as to where she would wake up. 

Now, she hated it. 

She pushed her door carefully and looked around the corridor. Clear. Noelle padded out as quietly as possible, and closed the door behind her. She twitched as the heavy door made more noise than she’d expected. 

“Morning.”

It took Noelle all her willpower to not scream. She calmed down as Vanessa started laughing in front of her. 

“Oh come on! It’s 6 in the morning, no one’s up anyway.”

“You are.” Noelle remarked 

The witch shrugged, “So, care to tell me why you’re being all sneaky?”

Noelle sighed, looking away. 

“It’s early, I don’t want to wake you up.” she tried 

“Yeah, yeah. Like you care.”

“I do.”

“Maybe you do.”

Silence settled. Noelle tried to find an excuse to go on with her day. And especially disappear from the common areas. But Vanessa broke the silence, “Captain Yami comes back today, and as you could’ve guessed, we’re having a party. You should come and help prepare everything.”

Noelle felt a gush of happiness. Finally, their captain was coming back. It had been a strange week without him around, everyone was traipsing carefully around the icy authority of their new Vice Captain and missed the easy-goingness from Yami’s time… It was awfully quieter too. The base wasn’t the same without him. But surely, Asta felt the same, and she was certain he’d be the first on deck to help with the preparations. She couldn’t risk running into him. 

“Don’t make me drag you to the common baths, Noelle.”

There was a silent understanding. _Alright, she knows_. Might as well get some advice from the witch. 

Noelle sighed, “Fine, I’ll help you.”

♣ ♣

♣

Thankfully, he was out in town with Finral to buy some stuff they needed for the welcome home party. So Noelle could finally talk freely to Vanessa about… the whole situation they’d had during the war. Because she’d been racking her brain around it for days and had come to the conclusion that… she needed help. 

“ _Aww_ , you confessed your love to each other on the brink of death? How romantic. You could’ve chosen a better moment for that, though.”

“We confessed we’re soulmates.” Noelle corrected as a deep blush was settling on her cheeks

“Same difference.” Vanessa said while gesturing to the cardboard box which contained the ugliest decorations Noelle had ever seen. 

“I beg to differ.”

Vanessa didn’t seem to care. 

“And you ran into each other’s arms as soon as you woke up.” The witch pointed out

“We were barely conscious.”

“That proves my point all the more.” 

Vanessa smiled and hanged one particularly shabby and ugly guirland. Noelle took a step back to avoid the flakes of disintegrating bits. Seriously, the common room was better off without these horrendous guirlands. Now they had to swipe the floor to remove… whatever kind of plush that guirland was made of. Yami wouldn’t care about any of that anyway, why were they bothering? 

“You’re training inside when he’s training outside and you’re pretending to still be recovering to avoid common areas. Why are you avoiding him? Shouldn’t you be all over each other?”

Noelle looked away. 

“It’s… awkward. I really thought we’d die down there so it was easy to… talk. It felt so natural. Now I can’t think about what I said without blushing, I’m so ashamed of… everything I said was so...”

Vanessa cut her off, “You did think what you said, right? You were being 100% honest down that pit, right?”

Noelle sighed, “Yes. But now… we’re back to how it was before, we’re back here, you’re all here, and I don’t know how to act differently to how it’s always been.”

Now, she’d said it. She’d been trying to figure that out since they came back to the base, roughly a week ago, and she still… couldn’t understand what exactly she was supposed to do. All she knew was that she was afraid of coming across him. And she hated to be afraid. So she avoided him. 

Vanessa sighed and got down from the stepladder, “It’s one step forward, five steps backwards with you… You know, life is short.”

Now, that was something Noelle wouldn’t have expected her to say. But then again, the war had been hard on everyone. Noelle knew Asta and her were only alive thanks to Rouge and the team of healers. She watched as Vanessa ruffled inside a cardboard box and took out what looked like a handmade clay bull. 

“What happened to ‘you’re young, take your time’?” Noelle teased

“You were helpless 16 years old rookies living in a peaceful country.” Vanessa explains, “You’re 17 years old war veterans now, and you’re among our highest-ranked members. Look, you’re _senior_ magic knights, you’re automatically _old_ . ” Noelle twitched. They were not _officially_ senior magic knights… yet. Vanessa went on, “And even our womanizer _Finral_ is getting married. Finral of all people. So you have no excuse.” No, she did have an excuse: Finral wasn’t a good example. Arranged marriages didn’t count. He’d been engaged since he was a kid. Still, Noelle didn’t point this out. Vanessa continued, “I know you both too well, I know how stupid you are,” she said while menacingly pointing the bull at her, “and at this rate, what happened in that pit will happen for real, and you’ll _die_ before you can enjoy what it means to be in love. I don’t want to be an accomplice in your downfall.”

The witch settled that ugly bull figure on the bar and took a few steps back to admire her work. 

“We’re not… _in love_.” Noelle muttered under her breath, arms crossed

“Sure.”

“We’re not.”

“Yeah.”

“We’re just… soulmates.”

Vanessa chuckled and turned to face her. 

“Yes. It’s nice to hear you say ‘we’ so much.”

Noelle was beet red instantly. Vanessa, of course, burst into laughter. 

“Nice ribbons you’ve got there.”

Noelle’s whole system stopped working. How did she know about the ribbons? Why did she know about the ribbons?

“Oh sweetie, did I break you?” Vanessa giggled. “Alright, I’ll stop. But keep in mind that you’ll have to confront him one day. It’s not as if you could avoid him forever, you _work_ together.”

The water mage knew that. This was precisely why she was terrified. 

Vanessa was humming, putting the decorations they hadn’t used in the cardboard box, visibly keeping her promise of not prying more. Noelle hesitated. She still had a hundred questions. What if he shuts me down again? What if he hadn’t meant the words he’d said? What if he’d meant them as… friends? Comrades? 

Vanessa broke her train of thoughts, “If I stop, you stop too. Stop brooding over it. This is the day our captain comes back, you’d want to put on a smile.”

Noelle smiled awkwardly. That was easier said than done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short contextual chapter, hello.  
> I tried to make it as clear as possible that the “confession” in the pit wasn’t considered a love confession by our pessimistic and traumatized Noelle. Most of us readers are Vanessas in this case, if you confess you’re soulmates, it’s basically done, right? Well… nope. It’s linked to the huuuuge freedom the concept of “soulmates” has in this AU. You can be soulmates but spend your whole life avoiding each other until Fate is fed up with you and decides to punish you for not taking its kind recommendations into consideration.


	2. Finral - This talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a short chapter, mostly dialogue.  
> Enjoy!

“So, errrr… next, we need fireworks…”

Finral blinked a few times and re-read the list. Yes, fireworks. That must have been Magna’s request, because the fire mage ran off towards that aisle. Unless it was Luck’s, because he bolted right after Magna. 

Finral sighed, “I have a feeling there’s gonna be trouble at that party… I don’t want to get Owen in the middle of the night  _ again _ ...”

He took a look at who was left in their “errands” party. Only Asta. And a calm Asta at that. Well, that’s how he’d been for the last week… since the end of the war. 

Finral’s role in the Spade Invasion had been that of support, as it had always been. He moved people from places to places, retrieved the injured, teleported mages to other battlefields, but also, and most of all, he had been the one to beg their mana detection experts to map the area, and to look for Asta and Noelle’s grimoires and mana signatures. He’d also been one of the rescue team who got them out of that pit, struggling to make it back up, carrying the two rookies on the brink of death. He’d been the first to see them lying there, looking so pale, but hand in hand and still breathing. 

That image still haunts him sometimes. 

If anything, he knew that the war had been hard on them. He knew how determined they’d been to get the kidnapped people back, to defeat the Triad… he could only imagine how frustrated they must be, of having been shut down before they could achieve any of that. 

“Yami’s fine.” Finral tried tentatively “He’s coming home only now, but he’s been fine for a while.”

Asta looked at him with puzzled eyes. 

“Yeah, I know. They just wouldn’t let him leave because they knew he wouldn’t rest properly at the base.”

Well, he knew that then. Finral smiled awkwardly. That captain of theirs was a handful. 

“Hey Finral, you’re marrying Finesse soon, right?”

The spatial mage turned slowly towards Asta. 

“Hopefully soon enough. I’m preparing for the royal hearing.”

“Do you love her?”

“Yes.” Finral said confidently

Asta narrowed his eyes at him, frowning. 

“How do you know?”

“Mmh… I just know.”

“How is it? To be in love?”

Ah. They were having  _ this _ talk. 

Back when they were training in Heart, Asta had already come to him for…  _ girl advice _ . Finral had no idea why the magicless knight would come to him for this kind of matter, but he did anyway, so he provided as much guidance as he could. Asta had asked if he could have done something to anger Noelle. To which Finral answered ‘nothing out of the ordinary’. They ended up discussing many... many things. Long story short, Finral had advised him to get her something, to which Vanessa (who had sneaked up on them) had shamelessly and blatantly said that he was the greatest gift he could get her, before offering to gift-wrap him. Finral stopped her short, and, thankfully, Asta didn't understand a thing. 

The spatial mage would not claim to be awfully smart, but he knew Asta had a soulmate tattoo, and he saw how the two rookies were when they were together. You either had to be blind or completely oblivious to  _ not notice _ .

“I… I love you all too, and the kids at the Church, and Sister Lily. How is that different? I care about you all, and I want you to be happy…”

“Well, it’s simple, really. It’s more than trust and it’s more than care. It’s something you feel for that one special person.”

He seemed to consider the idea. 

“How is that different from soulmates?”

Finral was taken aback by the question. He didn’t know. He didn’t have a soulmate himself. 

“Don’t soulmates automatically come with love?” Finral said, unsure “I’ve seen somewhere that the concept of love was crafted after the soulmates relationship. Love is the closest to what us, mere mortals, can have to what you, soulmates, have. It’s fated love, more or less.”

Asta went silent. So Finral decided to keep the talk more grounded and less conceptual, “You’re talking about Noelle, right?”

The boy raised surprised eyes to his mentor, cheeks red. The spatial mage smirked, satisfied to see him flustered like that. It amused him that the magicless knight could think that  _ no one  _ had noticed what was going on between them.

“So, what about her?” Finral asked with a grin “She’s your soulmate, isn’t she?”

Asta nodded slightly before grabbing random stuff on the shelves. 

“Yeah, she is. But it’s weird… because I’m pretty sure I wasn’t in love with Noelle when we met. But… I think… I did feel a connection? Maybe it was the tattoo.”

“Your feelings grew afterwards.” Finral explained

Asta rubbed a hand to the back of his neck, “But I’d been in love with Sister Lily at first sight! I've loved her my whole life! So I’m not sure…”

He paused.  Finral took out the pile of useless things Asta had put in their cart. 

“That nun could be your mother, right?”

“What? No she’s not that old!”

Finral chuckled, “No, what I mean is… she’s old enough to be, and she helped raise you, didn’t she?”

“Uh… I don’t really know how old she is. But yes, she did take care of me, and the rest of the kids too.”

Finral smiled. 

“Don’t think too much about how you felt for that nun of yours. What’s important is how you feel right now.” 

“Yeah, but precisely, I’m confused.”

Finral couldn't believe what he was going to tell Asta, "It’s because you’re thinking too much."

Right on the spot, the magicless knight gave him a puzzled look. So Finral continued,  “If it’s love that you feel for Noelle, and I’m pretty sure it is, then go ahead and make a move. Because _she_ most definitely won’t.”

Asta stopped, then turned to him, his face completely blank. 

“What do you mean by ‘make a move’?”

Finral thought he was joking. But he looked dead serious.

“Uh… tell her you love her?”

Asta went redder than he already was.

“She’d send me flying with a seadragon or something.” he mumbled

Finral wanted to contradict him on that point, but he found he couldn't. She would, most definitely, react in such a way. She already had. 

“And what if she… doesn’t love me back?”

Finral raised both eyebrows. How blind could that kid be to think she didn’t love him? Everyone at the Bulls had figured that out. He was even sure most magic knights who had ever been on a mission with them had figured that out. 

“I’m sure that if you tell her how you feel, that if you tell her everything, it will be fine.”

Asta didn’t look so sure. 

“Will you help me again?” he asked, eyes full of hope

Finral smiled, feeling like a proud, respected mentor for once. 

“Of course I will. Now let’s get everyone and head back to the base.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo.  
> For some reason life, work and school are hectic right now so updates _might_ be a little less consistent. I apologize. I have a few chapters drafted but I'm not satisfied with... many things, so I think I'll give myself the time to rethink and rewrite everything.  
> Also, I might give up on my 1pov/chapter. It does make things easier for me (naming, for starters, because that's a nightmare for me), but it makes the content fall short a little. I’ll see.  
> Thanks for bearing with me and take care until the next update! 
> 
> PS: Vanessa's gift idea was the best.


	3. Noelle - First mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody says: “Welcome back, captain!”

They were all gathered in the living room, waiting in high anticipation for Finral to come back with their captain. Nacht had left, claiming that he didn’t want to be here. For some reason, he still wasn’t too keen on staying with them if not obligated. 

At the far end of the room, Noelle was pretending to fix some decorations. Should she take advantage of the party to talk to Asta? Maybe. They would all be busy eating and partying… she could take him aside and… and then what should she say? The mere prospect of having to imagine the conversation created an uncomfortable knot in her stomach. There was no way she wouldn’t make a fool of herself in that state. Maybe she should rehearse before. Or at least write down a few sentences… Noelle’s hand froze mid air. She scoffed. That was ridiculous. _Write down a few sentences_. She turned around, feeling Finral’s magic portal and gathered with the others. 

“WELCOME BACK CAPTAIN!” they shouted in unison

Said captain looked at them one by one, before cracking one of his rare heartwarming smiles. He looked fine. Better. He still had some bandages, but for the most he was healed. 

“I hope you haven’t gone soft while these harpies kept me prisoner in bed.”

They laughed and suddenly, it felt like it was before. After months of peripeties, of stress, injuries, recovery, of worrying about the consequences, of burying their dead… it finally felt like it was over. The beginning of a new era. 

They had the greatest feast since their coming back from the Seabed Temple. Charmy had prepared too much, but with all the gluttons they had in the squad, everything had been eaten rapidly and the cooking sheeps had to surpass their limits to keep up with the Black Bulls’ pace. 

As of now, Noelle had settled the farthest possible from Asta, and was painfully aware of it. She still had no idea what to say, and she resolved to not think about it so she could, at least, eat something. 

“Ah, by the way...” Yami started

It was his “captain” tone. He would probably announce a new mission. The mission requests had been piling up, and Nacht was still reluctant to send any one of them on the field (he did the most pressing missions on his own). And to be completely fair, Noelle had appreciated these few days off. She had fought enough the past few months to last for a lifetime. She still trained, of course, she couldn’t afford to grow dull, but the breather was a blessing. They’d been out of recovery for a week only, so surely, they wouldn’t send her on a mission this earl—

“Asta, Noelle, you’re going on a mission.”

Noelle choked on her cake.

“It’s a simple one, catch some bandits or whatever. A walk in the park for you two.”

She didn’t want to go. On a mission, first, but on a mission alone with him, even less. She looked straight at Yami, hoping he’d understand. He sighed.

“Nope, it’s gotta be you two. Gotta earn your pay.”

He looked at every member gathered in front of him, and they all tensed. 

“Listen, I know that war was hard on all of you, and that’s my fault too for letting myself be kidnapped. But we need you back on the field. You need to build up experience so you can find a solution for whatever’s coming at you.”

That last part sent a shiver down her spine, and Noelle felt the knot settle back once again. Images of the pit flashed in her mind, she remembered the fall, the wind, how she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t grasp anything, struggling to keep her eyes open; the vision of the ground getting closer and closer, of her mana getting wilder and wilder and, at last, the moment, the precise moment she had realized they would _not_ make it out alive. The only thing that got her through was that he’d been there with her. 

“I can go alone,” Asta offered in a feeble voice that was… very unlike him. 

Noelle’s jaw clenched, and she started feeling guilty. She couldn’t refuse, she didn’t want to go, but she couldn’t let him go alone either. Their eyes met for an instant. He didn’t look too eager to go back on a mission. She could see he was not feeling too confident himself. 

“No, I’m going too.” she stated. “I’m a magic knight.”

Yami nodded, “You’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

♣ ♣

♣

Yami hadn’t lied. It was a simple mission. This was the only solace she could find… well, no. Really, it would’ve been worse if she’d been alone. Or would it? She couldn’t decide. 

She hadn’t been that nervous since her first mission, supposed to be a simple one: hunting down a boar near Saussy village. It had ended up in protecting an entire village and taking down a group of criminals. Nothing they had signed for in the first place. So Noelle knew firsthand how missions never went according to plan. 

“We should go gather information at the town office.” she said

Asta nodded. She had no idea where the town office was, though. It was already a miracle Finral had already been there. They walked down the main street, thinking that they should reach a plaza, or at least meet someone on the way.

“That’s one calm town,” Asta said

She could only agree. For this mission, they were to arrest a group of bandits. They had the group’s name, the members’ physical description, their magic attributes, and they even had the rough estimation of when and where they would act. Julius’ ears in the kingdom had informed him they’d attack that town, on that precise day. A simple mission, they didn’t even have to investigate anything. They’d never had such a simple mission. So, Finral had dropped them, and left them there. Ever since that moment, they were patrolling aimlessly, pointlessly, looking for anything suspicious. Although, the only thing that looked suspicious was them: two magic knights patrolling in such a calm town, to the point Noelle wondered if Julius’ intel was right. 

“Are you okay?” Asta asked with no warning at all

She almost jumped, not expecting him to talk. 

“Yes.”

“Your ki says otherwise. You’re scared?”

She _hated_ when he read her ki. So she glared at him, hoping she could get the message across.

“I’m not scared.” And it was true. She was simply… nervous. Very nervous. 

Silence fell over them. Then he broke it. 

“It’ll be fine. We’re together.”

 _Gosh did he have to say it like that?_ Noelle kept on walking, trying so hard to calm down. It was only a mission. She’d gone on plenty of those. Before. And they’d always been sent with senior members. Well, now they _were_ senior members too… but they didn’t have the experience. 

She’d led just fine in Heart. Why was it so much harder now that they were back? She’d taken a stand, pulling everyone up with her. She’d felt like she couldn’t crumble back then. Loropechka was scared, so she thought that she couldn’t be too, that she had to help. Now that they were back to Clover, she wasn’t feeling all that confident anymore. After all, she’d been overconfident back then, back in Spade. After all, they’d fallen down that pit. She looked sideways, glancing at Asta. 

“Aren’t you scared?” she brought herself to ask

He chuckled, but it felt different from his usual laughter. It was almost bitter. 

“Of course I’m scared.”

She looked at him, surprised he’d say it like that, so easily. 

He grinned, “But I’m with you, so I know we’ll be fine!”

She went redder than she already was. That weird mission was already enough, she didn’t want to add the whole soulmate or… _love_ situation in it… she focused on the building at the end of the road. That should be the town office. 

“You’re very red, you’re sure you’re ok?”

She most definitely was not okay. She needed to calm down. She also needed him to _stop asking_. They were on a mission, he should be concerned with the mission, or the bandits, or whatever… What had they come here to do? She looked at the town office, desperately, trying to escape his presence, to forget about it. 

“We still have time until the time the Wizard King indicated. If you don’t feel good we can stop at an inn.”

_What exactly was he proposing?!_

“I’m going to check that street!” she said, trying to get away

She would not be able to calm down if he kept sputtering and probing like that. She would not. She needed a small time alone. To compose herself.

“I don’t think we should split”, he said. “You should stay close to me.”

“I’m checking that street, you stay here.”

It had come out more harsh than intended. Noelle bit her lip, regretting the words as his green eyes widened, but she still turned away and darted off to the street she said she’d check, then turned, and turned again, running as far away as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might be dragging this for too long but oh well, there’ll be a major development soon. 
> 
> Do you remember when I said, last chapter (an eternity, innit), that life was being a mess rn and that I would not have time to write? Well, turns out I underestimated the power of procrastination. I ignored everything and focused solely on… writing. The good thing is: I have the outline done for the whole part, I have the first drafts written, and I’m kinda ok with how it turned out? Sure that still needs a lot of editing because what even is English (and why is English) but it should be okay? I still can’t believe I got that done this fast, I even got ideas for the other pairings. At this point, I don’t try to understand how my brain works anymore, I welcome whatever it decides to do. 
> 
> Anyway, the next update should be soon. Hehe. Take care until then!


	4. Captains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! A bit early because I'm afraid canon will catch with whatever I'm writing next and will forcefully have me rewrite everything, so I'm stepping up the update schedule.  
> Anyway, it's quite long, more on this at the end.

Sorting the reports was every Black Bulls’ least favourite job. It’s not that they hated it for having done it, though. In fact, most of them had never touched a report in their whole lives as magic knights; but they hated the mere prospect of _tidying._ And with all the craziness they’d had to face these past few months, the brigade members had prioritized the most needed activities: missions, recovery, investigation, and above all, training. Sorting the reports and tidying their archive room, however, had been pushed on the back burner. In clear, they hadn’t even set foot in there for nearly a year, except for an occasional dust-off. So, Yami had asked those who had nothing to do to handle the whole chaotic situation they had with their reports. 

The Black Bulls wasn’t an old squad. In fact, it was one of the newest squads. With only over a decade’s worth of files to sort, one might think that the great amount of members requisitioned would have been done in an hour, or two. How wrong would that be. 

First, they had to _find_ the room. Even Henry wasn’t certain of where he’d put it that day. He claimed he usually considered it an appendix to their library (their library wasn’t exactly the squad’s favourite room either), so the two should be close enough. When they finally figured out the day’s location of their archive room, they had to physically _enter_ (the door wouldn’t open). At last, with a strong kick from their captain, they managed to break into a cramped, dusty, spider web ridden room with some wobbly shelves that, surely, shouldn’t have been empty. In the centre of the room, there was a large table and a bench whose varnish was peeling, and also a shabby sofa against a wall. But what had the brigade members shaking was what was lying on the table and what was scattered on the floor: countless loose leaves; in other words the “reports” they would have to sort. This was the moment they discovered that Yami had never, ever, cared about sorting the files and had only put them on the table, one report after the next, and left. The first step towards cleaning up had been to put together the sheets that belonged to the same mission, before even thinking about classifying said reports. 

After two hours of hard work, they were almost finished with that part. Vanessa yawned, before collapsing on the sofa, pouting, “Cap’n, we’ve worked enough, no?”

“Hands off that bottle, Vanessa.” he answered without lifting his eyes from the sheets he was examining, “We’re finishing these files by tonight.”

She hadn’t even brought a bottle. In fact, she hadn’t drunk on the job or alone since the Elf Invasion… she sighed. She could use a drink right now; this was the most boring being a magic knight had been in forever. She surveyed the room, watching her squadmates either do the job seriously (strange) or slack off (she was more used to that). The weirdest part in the whole “file-sorting” situation was that Yami was there. He never did this kind of boring task. He’d always “delegate”. Seeing him on deck was strange. Not disagreeable, but… strange. 

“Why does that matter?” she asked after a while “You never read these files anyway.”

He glared at her, and she smirked back. To her surprise, he sighed, “I intend to become a captain worthy of your bunch and of this kingdom.”

Silence followed the declaration, Vanessa and Finral exchanged puzzled looks, before setting their eyes on their captain again. The man laughed, “What? I can do it. I’ll work hard.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly the problem… the problem was that Yami didn't _care_ about what they thought of him, or what the kingdom thought of him, really. He had taken them in, useless, broken, fallen as they were without asking anything in exchange; he had gladly accepted the squad ranking last every year with their over-growing impressive number of negative stars, telling them that it didn’t matter, and that it didn’t reflect their worth, that he just wanted to have a good time with them. 

Yami seemed to take the hint, as he sighed, crossing his arms, “Let’s just say that seeing all of you surpass your limits to get me and the Golden Weird Mask Guy back was some inspiration to start doing the job correctly.”

Vanessa was beaming. 

“And Nacht is being a pain in the ass.” he added

Ah yes, of course he was. They all laughed, before remembering that the vice captain could appear anywhere at any time with his shadow magic, so they went back to sorting files. Until Yami’s communication device rang.

“I’m busy being a respectable captain, what’s up kid?”

Vanessa raised an eyebrow and turned towards Yami. He looked up, gestured for them to get closer. For three minutes, they listened to Asta telling how he ended up alone in the streets, how he had no idea where he was at the moment, and how Noelle wasn’t coming back. Vanessa and Finral lost it when he’d talked about proposing to stop at an inn. Finally, he went silent, waiting for orders from Yami. 

“You two, pipe it down. Ok, kid, listen, you’re going to-”

“Captains the bandits are here! I’ll call you back!!”

And then he hung up. Vanessa risked one look at Finral, and it was all it took for them to have a fit of the giggles. Yami sighed. 

“How did they get promoted to _senior_ magic knights…” he wondered aloud, “you two, stop laughing and get on these files or you’ll do that on your next day off.”

They stopped laughing immediately.

“No, come to think of it… Finral, Vanessa, you’re off to that town. I’ve just realized something...”

♣ ♣

♣

Noelle tried to catch her breath, but she had to admit: she’d gone past her limits with that sprint. She leaned against the tree, still panting. _Damn it all._ What on earth was wrong with her? She’d made up her mind. She’d said she’d tell him. She’d said she’d handle the situation. So _why_? 

When she could finally breathe at a semi-normal rhythm, she put her back against the tree and slid down the trunk until she’d made a nest for herself on the ground. 

Then again, hadn’t she “decided” this several times before? Her mind flashed back to when he gave her the ribbons. She’d said she’d tell him at that time. But then the war happened… Noelle clenched her fists. No, that wasn’t true. She’d tried several times before that. She’d tried to talk to him the next day, only to have cold feet and propose a training session instead. When he’d gone off and attacked the mobile fortress too, she’d tried to talk to him right after that. He’d invited her to go back to the Black Bulls base then, she’d denied the request, pretexting she needed to train some more. Vanica attacked, so she will never regret her decision of staying back. But she can’t help but realize that she had always, without a fault, found an excuse not to reveal her feelings to him. 

Or rather, of not _confronting_ her feelings for him.

It was hard, loving him. She’d always think about the time he said he’d marry the nun. He did say he’d never leave her when they were down in that pit. But that didn’t mean he… _loved_ her. She didn’t know what to think. She most definitely wasn’t ready to be rejected. And she didn’t want to get her hopes up either. She couldn’t take that pain again. Asta was so stupid sometimes, he wouldn’t even realize the significance behind the words he used, or the actions he took. And of course, she would inevitably interpret his actions the way she wanted, the way she _wished_ he meant them. 

Noelle brought her knees to her chest. She couldn’t go on like that. She had to do something about it, and fast. She needed to _tell him_ , at last. What was the worst that could happen? _He rejects you, and you lose him. Forever._ The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She hugged herself tighter. Asta wouldn’t do that. What he said down that pit… he’d never leave her. She wouldn’t lose him, whatever his feelings, or lack thereof, were. She needed to know. She needed an answer. She’ll figure this out later, for now… she needed to get back to work. 

She sighed. It went in the way of her job. She was a senior magic knight now, promoted like a few others who had participated in the Spade Invasion, especially because they had fought in the war and survived, because half the Golden Dawn had died and because the country needed more high-ranked knights to keep up appearances. Of course, Noelle knew that in terms of power, Asta and herself were close to the level of a senior knight. When it came to cold-bloodedness and cool-headedness however, she was certain they were not even intermediate knights. The fact that she was sitting on the ground at the base of a tree instead of patrolling the town with her squad mate was enough proof. 

Noelle lifted her head and looked around. She had no idea where she was. She’d left the streets, left the town, and was now positioned somewhere outside the walls. She needed to get back. She checked her clothes, before realizing that they had only been given one communications device… and Asta had it. 

She groaned. Then she imagined Yami’s reaction to their failure. This was something she was not ready to face, not so soon after they’d got him back and on their first mission after the war, on such a simple mission… _a walk in the park._ Couldn’t they manage a simple arrest mission? They could. She was done being an embarrassment. 

So she got on her feet. She’d ask directions if need be, but she’d get to Asta. He should be at the town office. If the bandits hadn’t already attacked… No, there was no point thinking about that. He could hold his own anyway. If he was fighting, she’d find him more easily too. She could still catch up with him if she sprinted there… 

She was getting ready to run back when she noticed something down the hill. There was some sort of shady barn. Well, it wasn’t shady _per say_ , but an isolated barn here, with no fields and no cattle around? She tried to remember the briefing about that area. Ever since an earthquake a few years ago, the soil was unfertile, nothing could grow here… But what made her more suspicious was that even though the barn appeared positively abandoned… it looked like some grass had been uprooted around, as if there had been people walking that path. 

_Looks like a base of operation_ , she realized. 

Well, she’d need proof. She wasn’t 100% positive this could be the bandits headquarters. Noelle walked down the hill, slowly, hand on her wand, grimoire unsatched. Just as she was reaching the barn, the door opened. 

The man looked at her. Looked down, taking in the robe. And then he darted off.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Noelle couldn’t harm a citizen. Maybe this man was just running because he distrusted magic knights, or… for any other reason? It struck her how little experience she had in arrest missions. Well, she didn’t have time to think. She summoned her Valkyrie Dress and flew past him, getting in his way. 

Then she looked at the man. He matched the description. That should be him, right? But how could she be certain of it? 

“Are you a thief?”

The words escaped her lips and she had to resist the urge to facepalm. Would anyone answer ‘yes’ to that question? How else could she confirm it anyway? She’d have to go into the barn and retrieve the stolen goods… then she’d have proof. Well, she’ll arrest him and see later… 

A few more men got out of the barn and immediately scattered, running away for dear life. 

_Damn._

Noelle knocked out the one in front of her and then went after the others. 

When they were finally all out, she entered the barn carefully. And breathed out in relief. The stolen goods were here. She’d got only 5 of the bandits, though… the mission required all ten of them to be taken. She went back out, looked at the 5 knocked-out bandits in front of her. How she wished she had a communications device at that moment…

_I’ll take care of these five now and regroup with Asta._

Then she realized it. The thought infiltrated her mind, plaguing it with both shame and anger, showing her plainly how stupid she’d been. 

She had no restraining spell.

 _And soon, they’ll come to, and they’ll run away, and I’ll have to knock them out again_. She had no way of arresting these five and bringing them back to the capital. She couldn’t carry five people with her Valkyrie Dress. She didn’t have any way to move them. Noelle wasn’t a versatile mage, she knew that perfectly well, but a binding spell was the bare minimum for a magic knight. Most of the time, they weren’t at war or fighting powerful enemies, but patrolling and arresting criminals. Come to think of it, Asta didn’t have any of these spells either. Why on earth had Yami sent the two of them on an arrest mission when they were clearly combat mages?

Well, she’d think about this later, right now, what mattered was finding a solution. Noelle racked her brains around it, but found no way. She couldn’t get a cart without leaving them, and she couldn’t leave them unattended. What’s more, she was almost certain of having twisted her right wrist. If only Asta was here… or anyone, really. Why had she run off… 

She heard one of the men grunt. _Crap. I’ll have to knock him out again_. But then, the others moved too. Knocking them all out again? Until when? That would be a never ending cycle, and she was pretty sure she wouldn’t win that fight. She should have checked the barn for a rope… well, for now, she’d try her most powerful weapon: faked overconfidence. 

“You’re going to follow me” she said

Noelle realized it would never work. They would most definitely not follow one isolated magic knight (no matter how powerful) if not restrained, and they most definitely knew it. She could see it in their eyes. One man stood up, walked towards her. _Crap._

Then the man froze. Noelle’s eyes widened as she sensed a familiar mana around. An ally, and one… or two others. She breathed out when they showed themselves, confirming their identity. 

“Do you require my help?”

 _Captain Charlotte and two Blue Rose knights_. Noelle nodded, setting her pride aside because, anyway, she had no way of getting out of this alone. Captain Charlotte’s briar restrained the other four.

“Let’s take them to the capital. And then you’ll explain everything.”

Noelle looked away, then sighed in approbation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There’s a reason why I say “oh the days off are so rare!” and then proceed to never write about missions… I can’t write missions. I have no idea what magic knights do for a living. To me it feels like they’re always battling elves, or devils, or whatever but… what’s the job about in time of peace? What are they paid for? T_T  
> Also, Noelle doesn’t have a restraining spell and I realized it halfway through the mission (just like Yami), and instead of, say, rewriting the whole thing, I went on with it because I’m always down for silly comedy. Now we know I’d be a terrible captain, not that we had any hope anyway.  
>  **One small question** , then I’ll let you go (someone tell me to stop ranting in the notes and get to the point)… Are longer chapters like this one okay with you? Is it easy enough to read? I know my writing can be whacky at times, so do tell me if you prefer shorter chapters to overlook the typos, grammar errors and whatnots or if longer chapters (like this one) are fine with you.  
> Next chapter is going to be long whatever you have to say about it though. I can’t cut it. Haha. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading, as always, and see you next time!


	5. Handwriting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, buckle up.

Asta didn’t know what was worse: having to write a mission report when he himself couldn’t understand half of what had happened during said mission, or realizing that Noelle had been wounded. She’d come back to the base a while ago accompanied by none other than the Captain of the Blue Roses who insisted on talking to Yami. After that, the captain of the Black Bulls was in a terrible mood and had ordered Asta and Noelle to craft a detailed report about the mission, saying he needed it by morning. They had simply nodded, too tired and guilty to protest.

Now, they were sitting next to each other in the archive room, blank sheets of paper on the table, ink and quills at their disposal... in the most uncomfortable silence they’d ever experienced. Until Noelle broke it.

“I’m sorry.”

Asta raised an eyebrow. She continued, “I shouldn’t have left. It’s my fault it got out of hand.”

Well, it was true he would have preferred to fulfill this mission together. Instead, they ended up taking care of half the bandits each thanks to some external help. But the mission was a success. At the end of the day, it was all that mattered. 

“Don’t say it’s your fault,” he answered “you had a hunch and I let you go alone.”

She scoffed bitterly, “No it’s my fault. I left for the dumbest reasons.”

“And I should’ve followed, so it’s fifty-fifty.”

“It’s not fifty-fifty, Asta. It’s all my fault. I’m the one who left you alone, and I told you not to follow.”

“Noelle, we’re a squad, we’re a team. We share the responsibilities. You don’t have to beat yourself down like that.”

“Yami had to send Finral and Vanessa to help you, and you got wounded.”

“I’m always wounded to some extent, and it’s not your fault if I’m careless. And you’re wounded too!”

“That’s on me,” she repeated

He parts his lips to answer, but closed them. He could feel it again, that overwhelming guilt she had. He realized she wasn’t only talking about the mission anymore. There was more to it. He was growing more and more uneasy, waiting for her to talk again. 

“I’m the one who made us fall down that pit.”

Asta felt his shoulder slump at how low her voice was, how weak she sounded. He looked away, biting his lip. This was the problem, then. He’d meant to talk it out with her, knowing full well she’d beat herself down for it, but she’d been… distant. And honestly, he didn’t feel like bringing it up if she didn’t. He wasn’t keen on thinking or talking about the war. 

“You got us out of harm’s way, Noelle” he answered

“Your anti-magic would’ve protected us. Or I could’ve protected us with a spell.”

“You were out of magic, weren’t you? I shouldn’t have looked back, that’s all.”

“If I had gauged my magic power better, I wouldn’t have been out of magic, and you wouldn’t have had to help me.”

Asta tried to lock eyes with her but she kept looking away. 

“That was my choice to come help you.” he said firmly

“And then I threw us down that pit.”

“You protected us from Vanica’s spell.”

“By throwing  _ you _ down an endless pit! You could’ve  _ died _ ! I could’ve  _ killed _ you!”

She was screaming now, and a few tears had gathered at the corners of her eyes. Asta’s throat tightened as his heart sank. He didn’t know what to say. 

“Noelle...” he tried to say as calmly as he could, trying so hard to soothe her guilt

He pondered his next words, trying to lock her eyes but her gaze was fleeting, her bottom lip trembling. 

“If that spell had hit us, we wouldn’t have died… maybe. But there’s no telling if the impact wouldn’t have thrown us backwards either. We were standing too close to the edge…”

She was trying so hard not to cry. He could tell from her breathing, from how she was avoiding his gaze, from the heavy despair he was feeling from her, mixed with frustration and guilt. So much guilt. He looked at her hand resting on her lap, curled into a tight fist. He couldn’t bring himself to take it, so he looked up, focusing on her face, her tired features, her eyes glowing with tears she wouldn’t shed. 

“What matters is that we didn’t die. We survived this, and I know I would have crashed and died _for_ _sure_ if you hadn’t been down there with me. I owe you my life, and you owe me yours. That’s how our squad works. We look out for each other. I don’t blame you for anything, and I’m certain no one in the Bulls does. So you shouldn’t blame yourself either.”

She stayed silent, but he could feel her calming down a little. Her breathing slowed progressively and after a while, she nodded slightly.

“Why did you leave during the mission?”

He didn’t want to talk about it, but he needed to know. Both for himself and for the report. He felt her stiffen. He waited until she talked, but she looked like she was struggling with phrasing it. 

“I… was scared.”

He knew that much. He’d sensed it, and he’d asked her. But it didn’t make sense to him that she’d rather be alone when scared than with him. 

“It wasn’t only the mission that got me that nervous. I was also… scared of being alone with you.”

What? Asta’s mind started racing, had he done something? had he scared her with anything? 

“I’d… I’d never do anything that could hurt you, Noelle, I…”

“I know” she cut him off “You’re kind to a fault…”

He breathed out, but still, he wasn’t relieved. Why had she been scared then?

“Asta… do you remember when we were down that pit?”

His heart skipped a beat. He looked down at the quill and the sheets. He hadn’t talked about it to anyone. He felt like that moment down there… belonged to the two of them only. But it didn’t change the fact that he kept thinking about it. 

“Yeah.”

“Do you remember… what I told you? what you said?”

He thought back to the infinite darkness around, their conversation. He could remember all of it. Every single word. The battle in the castle right before was still fuzzy, but their conversation was crystal clear in his mind. 

“I said I wouldn’t leave your side.”

Noelle turned towards him, a puzzled look on her face and he wondered if he’d understood correctly. Among everything they’d admitted down there… it was what struck him as the most important. It was also something he wished he had phrased better. 

“Asta, did you… really mean that?”

“Mean what?”

She was searching his eyes for something. He didn’t understand what. 

“That you… wouldn’t leave me?”

It was Asta’s turn now to be taken aback.

“Of course I meant it. I still mean it.”

“Can I… trust you?”

He would have laughed if the question hadn’t felt so serious, if she hadn’t sounded so terrified of the answer. So Asta grinned, “Of course you can. I trust you already. Didn’t I tell you?”

She didn’t answer and silence befell them. Asta wasn’t sure where she’d been going with this conversation. Then, Noelle reached out for the quill and dipped it into the ink. 

“L-Let’s just get this report over with.” she said, blushing slightly

He raised his hand to stop her, but gave up halfway. Her wrist was bandaged, yes, but surely she could still write. Otherwise she wouldn’t have taken that quill. He was still scared of setting her off… even though she looked much calmer now. 

He watched as her shaking hand was trying to form the letters of her name but achieved nothing else than randomly splash ink all over the sheet. Alright, it was clear now that she couldn’t write. He looked at her grimacing face.

“Does it hurt?” he asked

She sighed and put the quill aside, holding her wrist with her other hand. 

“It’s okay,” she said “Owen’s out of town and for some reason he’s the only one who can mend broken bones now? So I just have to wait until he’s back. It shouldn’t be long. You’re plenty beaten up yourself.”

She turned to face him, and stared. He was suddenly shamefully aware of having a head bandage instead of his trademark headband, and a few bandaids on his face. He took the quill and dipped it before writing his name at the top left corner of the sheet. 

She giggled, “Oh god, your handwriting…”

Asta chuckled, “Yeah, it’s bad.”

He remembered how Yami told them to get him a proper report. He’d said it had to be clearer than clear, because reading about a mission was already boring enough, it didn’t have to be painful on top of it. It probably meant that the words needed to be readable. And although Asta didn’t care about his handwriting most of the time, he was aware of its sloppiness. 

Noelle sighed, “Leave it to me, I’ll write…”

He held onto the quill, “You can’t write with a broken wrist. I’ll do it. I’ll make an effort.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, then sighed, “Fine.”

Right. He could do it. If he really did his best, he could write well enough. Asta dipped the quill once again.

“You’re putting too much ink, the sheet will wrinkle”, Noelle remarked, “And how are you holding your quill?”

He turned to face her, a puzzled look on his face. 

“Asta, did you learn how to write on your own?”

“Uh? No, Sister Lily taught me.”

He saw her eyebrow twitch and he wondered what he’d say to trigger that reaction. He was expecting an outburst of anger, but instead, she sighed and shrugged, the hint of a blush on her cheeks.

“It can’t be helped,” she said, “I’ll teach you, then.”

He couldn’t help but feel excited. He’s always admired her handwriting, and thinking that he could get closer to what was written on his left forearm made him happy in anticipation. She took the quill from him and showed him the proper holding position. He remembered having it been taught this way. He simply hadn’t really… cared at the time. 

He took the quill back and dipped into the ink, putting much less than he had before, and positioned the tip above the sheet, ready to write her name next to his. 

“Wait, don’t bend your wrist like that.”

“Uh?”

He froze completely, still as stone, as she came closer to him and corrected his posture with her own hand. She forcefully shifted his stiff fingers, adjusting his grip. 

“Don’t grip too tight. It should be easier to write now. Try it.”

Asta wished he could, but he was so aware of how close she was at that moment. He couldn’t care less about that quill, that ink, that sheet, that report. He turned his head towards her and gazed at her. He could feel her hot breath on his neck before, but now he saw how close she really was. She was still looking at the page, or at his hand, probably analyzing how he was holding the quill, her hand still on top of his, the bandage brushing his skin softly. He’d never heard his own heartbeat so loud. 

Asta realized how flimsy his doubts were. He wondered how he could have been confused about how he felt for her. It seemed so clear to him at that moment, crystal clear. There was her, only her. He could not take his eyes off her; he looked at the ribbons, he remembered how nervous he’d been when he’d given them to her, he remembered how he failed at telling her the three words at that time, maybe because he still wasn’t certain, maybe because he thought it wasn’t the moment. He looked at her eyes, these beautiful pink eyes, the ones that came to mind immediately when he’d seen the ribbons in that shop, and the ones he associated with every time he saw anything pink. Pink… his gaze went down. Her lips… 

“So, when are you going to write, Bakasta?”

He jumped, startled, and she turned her head to him, a quizzical look on her face. He realized he’d been staring at her for an unreasonable amount of time. But he still didn’t look away. Honestly, he couldn’t. He watched as she gradually lost her composure, her pale skin turning a beautiful shade of peony pink. Ah… pink again. He was expecting her to pull away, but instead she stared back in silence, looking at him inquiringly. He felt her hand slide away from his and the cold sensation it left behind made him want to snatch it back, but he realized that now her arm wasn’t between them anymore. There was nothing between them anymore. 

They stayed gazing at each other in silence for moments that seemed to stretch for hours. Asta’s heart rate was picking up, pouding faster than ever, he could feel the heat rising up his neck. Unconsciously, they got closer and closer. With every beat of his pounding heart he shut his eyes slowly before putting his lips on hers. 

At first, it felt like she’d frozen completely. But then, she returned the kiss, maybe a little too eagerly, as their noses bumped. Asta couldn’t help but grin, before he adjusted, slightly parting his lips as he reached for the back of her neck to pull her closer. They clumsily crash against each other, trying to figure out how they’re supposed to kiss, but mostly savoring every sensation this new found proximity sparked in them. 

When they finally parted, Asta was feeling so hot he was certain he was redder than he’d ever been. Well, she was bright red too, but she was smiling. God, she was so pretty. 

“What, uh… what does that mean?” she brought herself to ask, her voice incredibly low

Only then, as he saw her flustered face right in front of him, did he realize he was alive. No Sea Dragon's roar, no water ball, nothing. Just an incredibly flushed face, and her gorgeous smile. He smiled back, taking her hand.  _ Tell her how you feel _ , Finral had told him. It was the perfect moment. 

“I like you a lot.”

He remembered he’d already said these words during their first Star Festival. He didn’t clearly understand what these feelings were at the time. He’d answered what he'd felt. Now he knew it, he was sure of the words, he could utter them confidently, so he squeezed her hand and corrected, “I love you.”

It was so hot in that room. He looked away for a second, before watching her reaction more closely. She was so clearly burning up, looking like she was struggling to get words out and he felt her hand tighten in his, so close to crushing his fingers. For an instant, he thought that, at the end of the day, he’d still get that Sea Dragon’s roar. But instead, she was stuttering uncontrollably. 

“I, uh… I… I…”

He chuckled, before bursting into laughter. He found it funny that she’d be less flustered about kissing him than being confessed to. 

“Don’t laugh!”, she cried out

But he couldn’t stop laughing, and she couldn’t help but start laughing too. The pressure faded away with their giggles, and they slowly reached back their usual level of camaraderie and calmness they normally had around each other. 

“Well, it’s fine. Let’s finish this report!” Asta said when they finally managed to stop laughing nervously

She sighed, “We haven’t even started it. Ah, it’s going to be a long night…”

He smiled and took the quill back in his hand, looking at the blank page. His left hand was still in hers. 

“Ok, so! Where do we start?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **At last.**
> 
> I really wanted that chapter out on Valentine’s day for…….. obvious reasons. This scene was written and rewritten so many times, I just couldn’t get it right? Still feels a bit off to me, but I’m ok with how it turned out. It’s infinitely better than my first drafts, I can guarantee you that... If that still feels ooc, just file that under "AU" ~~
> 
> Anyway, I think I’ll follow your recos and upload longer chapters. It doesn’t make that much of a difference for me; I just prefer to have things organized in neat little boxes, so I naturally cut chapters so only one _thing_ happens in them; but merging two chapters and cutting with lines could work too... I’ll figure it out. 
> 
> Anyway anyway _anyway,_ that’s it, thank you for reading, and Happy Valentine’s Day!


	6. Seniors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late chapter!! Turns out responsibilities don't vanish if you ignore them long enough? What an appalling discovery.

The first thing that Noelle thought upon waking up was how everything hurt. Her back, her neck, her wrist. The second thing she grasped was that she’d fallen asleep on a table, and that it was awfully, terribly cold in that room, save for her right hand that was, for some reason, burning hot. The third thing, she realized when opening her eyes, set her into panicking mode, but she immediately told herself to _calm down_. Asta, his hand in hers (that explained the warmth), peacefully asleep, his jaw resting on the report they were supposed to finish by morning. That made four things, actually, because it was morning. 

Noelle stayed immobile for seconds that felt like an eternity, afraid he’d wake up if she moved even a millimetre. She couldn’t remember _when_ she’d fallen asleep. They’d gone over her part of the mission and then… she remembered allowing herself to rest her eyes for a minute and… well, nothing after that. She’d fallen asleep on the spot. She gathered the blanket that had slipped when she’d pulled away, put it around Asta’s shoulders before wondering when the hell this blanket had landed on her anyway. He was still fast asleep, his regular breathing softly raising up and down a sheet of paper, his face so still and serene. 

She rested her head on the table again, staring at his adorable sleeping face. Maybe she should wake him up. No, that would be a shame to wake him up. Not because he was very cute, sleeping like that, no… (he was incredibly cute) but he had finished that report alone when she’d been asleep herself, so… he deserved to rest for a little longer. Yes, he deserved to stay this serene a little longer. This was not for her own personal benefits of being able to feed off that sight a little more. 

She was gazing, taking in his calm face, burning the image into her mind. That was a face of his that she never wanted to forget: a calm Asta, a non-screaming Asta. And he was asleep anyway, so she could shamelessly stare all she wanted for once. Her fingers made their way to his face, where an ash-blonde lock of hair had fallen on his nose, and she put it back behind his ear tenderly, unable to repress a smile while doing so. He frowned at the touch and she backed away, terrified he’d wake up. But his eyes kept shut. 

God. She didn’t know she could be so bold. Her heart still racing, Noelle reluctantly shifted her attention to the sheets on the table, that report they’d crafted. He had indeed made an effort for his handwriting, she could read the beginning effortlessly, and it gradually became a lot more like… his usual handwriting. At least, the report was finished. Not thanks to her, but it was finished. That was already one less concern to have. 

Now. The real thing she had to worry about. 

She blushed, thinking about that kiss. They had kissed. He had confessed. It was in all too good to be true. It was true, though. It was very much real. Damn, only just _thinking about it_ had her burning up. 

What now? What did that mean? He’d confessed. Directly. There was no ambiguity anymore. Did that mean she had to confess too, now? She hadn’t been able to answer anything. She’d wanted to tell him. But the words simply wouldn’t come out. Could she tell him now? Could she really tell him? And what then? 

A grunt interrupted her thoughts and she turned to look at him. He was rubbing his eyes, and had an impressive bed(table?)head. 

“Morning” he grumbled

Now, that was too adorable. 

“Morning” she answered

He blinked several times, his eyes still half closed, and ran the blanket through his fingers with a quizzical look. He turned a curious face towards her and she felt herself blush once more.

“I— you…uh… were sleeping.”

“Thanks” he said with a grin

God, he was so _calm_ about it all. It made her calm down, somehow. Then, he stopped smiling and stared at her. For a long time. A very long time.

“What?” she asked, uncomfortable

“You’ve got a bit of ink there.” he said while gesturing towards the general area of his jaw. Noelle immediately put her hand on the mentioned area and started rubbing frenetically.

“It’s, uh, it’s the other side, higher…” 

He didn’t wait for her to find the spot and, closing the distance between them, removed the splash of ink from her face.

“Uh… th-thanks…”

He smiled again, “You’ve been up for long?”

“Just woke up” she lied

She absolutely hadn’t been staring at his sleeping face for full minutes. 

“Um…” she started “About…”

She stopped. About a split-second later, someone broke into the room and they could tell from how the door crashed into the wall that it was their captain. 

“Done with that report?” he asked

Asta and Noelle exchanged worried looks.

“Yeah?”

“Then go get ready, there’s that ceremony. Imma go smoke one while reading this.”

A ceremony? Oh yes… she had completely forgotten. They’d be _officially_ promoted to senior magic knights on that day. 

♣ ♣

♣

They arrived just in time. 

First off, Yami was a slow reader, and for some reason, he didn’t want to go before being finished with that report. Then, Finral had dropped them at Owen’s so Noelle could have her wrist fixed. When they finally arrived at the Wizard King’s quarters, Finral realized they’d forgotten Vanessa at the hideout so they had to go back, get the witch (who complained heavily), and head to the ceremony again. 

There were a lot of magic knights there. All the captains were present, maybe because this time, every squad had a member to promote. Noelle watched as Yami was greeting (in his own rowdy manner) the captains present. 

“Sooooo……”

Noelle stiffened. Vanessa’s tone was screaming to her that she was up to no good. The witch draped an arm around her and leaned into her ear.

“Did you sleep well?” she murmured

Noelle’s cheek coloured a bright red. How on earth did she know? They were already up when Yami entered the archive room! 

Wait. No. You’re _assuming_ she knows. Maybe she doesn’t. 

“Hum. Yes. Thank you.”

The witch giggled, pulling away to face her, arms crossed, her inquisitive gaze burning into her. Damn. She knew. No doubt about that. But _how?_

“Come on, tell me! Details! I want details! Did you...”

Noelle was quick to cast a palm to her lips. She looked around, her heart racing. No one seemed to pay them any mind. She did catch her brother’s gaze, but he averted his eyes a split-second later. She released the witch, who kept smirking. Noelle stared sideways at Asta, who was enjoying the banquet, as he would always do.

“We kissed. And he confessed.”

She put her hand on the witch’s mouth again as she started squealing excitedly. When she looked like she would stop making so much noise she let go again to let her breathe.

“Does that mean you’re dating now?”

Vanessa’s grin was so wide Noelle couldn’t help but smile a little too. 

“I don’t know. I haven’t… exactly… answered anything.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes but said nothing. She didn’t need her to phrase it: Noelle knew really well she should have said something. 

The witch frowned, staring at her, “You don’t look too happy about him confessing.”

“No, I _am_ happy about it.”

Vanessa didn’t answer. So Noelle sighed, “We barely had time to _talk_ about it. And I just don’t know what… we’re supposed to do now?”

The witch huffed, “You don’t have to start making babies right away, you know.”

Noelle choked and Vanessa patted her back, still laughing. She stopped suddenly, eyes widening as she looked like she’d realized _something_ that, to be completely honest, Noelle feared greatly. 

“Wait, did you guys even get… the _‘talk’_?”

Noelle stared at her blankly. So Vanessa clarified, “You know, the bees and the flow—”

“ _I know_ ” she interrupted

“Figures. Come to think of it, does Asta even… he was raised in a church, right? Does he even know…”

There was a silence as they both contemplated the idea. Then Noelle erupted, beet red: “Why are we even talking about that?!”

Vanessa burst into laughter once again as Noelle was hiding her face behind her hands.

“Stop pulling a Grey!”

“Then stop talking about this!”

Vanessa sighed and took her hands off her face gently. Noelle was still blushing like crazy.

“You both have tomorrow off, right? What are you planning?”

Noelle blinked. Vanessa crossed her arms, a smile on her lips, “You should go on a date.”

The silver-haired mage looked like her mind had gone completely blank.

Vanessa cocked an eyebrow. 

“You _do_ know what a date is?”

Noelle scoffed, “I know what a date is.”

“Ok, what’s a date?”

A minute passed without her formulating an articulate sentence. Vanessa sighed, “Do you even know what it means to date someone?”

Noelle looked away, then admitted, “Not really.”

The witch had to resist the urge to facepalm. She was honestly more shocked than despaired by the situation, “Don’t you have any couple among your friends or family?”

Noelle looked like she was thinking really hard to find one, “Well, my aunt and uncle, I guess? Oh, and Domina and Fanzell of course. I think that’s about it.”

Vanessa blinked. She was waiting for Noelle to add something, but she didn’t. So she uncrossed her arms, barely believing her ears, “First, forget about Domina and Fanzell, they’re a terrible example. Second, there’s no one younger? What about your siblings?”

“I don’t think they’re dating anyone? I wouldn’t know, but they’ve _probably_ never dated.”

Vanessa raised both eyebrows. 

“There’s no way. Isn’t that captain thirty or something?”

Noelle shrugged, “I don’t think he’s interested in that.”

Vanessa looked completely lost. She put both hands on her junior’s shoulders, then looked away, “Oh, this isn’t gonna be easy…”

“What isn’t?”

“You two! Asta is as clueless as it comes, and you’re no better!”

Noelle wanted to contradict her on that, but she found she couldn’t. The witch sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, “We need Finral.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't sure where to cut, so at first I thought I'd just squeeze enough "chapters" (read: scenes) to go over 2k; but it felt so off to have three scenes in there? I still need to figure out that whole "longer chapter" business. Or I could learn how to write more than a backbone; that would also be a good idea fkdsfhjds
> 
> Anyway: life is back to being hectic. I don't know how hectic hectic is going to be this time, nor for how long, so I'm letting you know. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and take care!


	7. The Longest Day Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a transition chapter with an absence of transitions in it.  
> (yep)

Noelle wondered how she had ended up in that situation.

She was sitting down at a table. Vanessa was at her side flipping through a book. The both of them were facing a chalky blackboard that Noelle didn’t even know they had at the Black Bulls’ hideout. But the worst in this scenery was probably Finral, an unusual smug look on his face, his arms crossed in an attempt to look cool. 

Then he spoke, and Noelle started regretting the silence. 

“So, you’ve come to me for dating advice.”

Noelle looked sideways, then mumbled a positive answer.

“You have come to the right person.” 

That had been Vanessa’s idea. She had said that Finral would have the most comprehensive knowledge of everything related to relationships. And even though Noelle usually trusted her judgement, she couldn’t help but express reservations regarding asking _Finral_ for dating advice. True, the man was the only Bull to be in a relationship. He was also engaged and soon to be married. But that absolutely didn’t mean that he was the right person to go to. Especially since his marriage with Finesse was arranged, and his romantic life before that hadn’t exactly been ideal; if anything, it had been chaos. 

Then Finral pointed at Vanessa.

“And you’re here for what? A refresher?”

“I’m the psychological support I wish I had had back when you gave _me_ that talk.”

From that sentence, Noelle should have known what sort of hell she was getting into. 

“Very well. I allow you to stay.” Finral said

“I would’ve stayed either way, Fin’.” Vanessa answered absent-mindedly, flipping a page of her book, not even looking up

He nodded, then his attention switched back to Noelle, which… worried her the most.

“Alright, what do you know?”

She didn’t answer. She honestly didn’t know what to say. And she was a little too ashamed to even… say anything.

Then Vanessa came to her help, “Just start all the way from the beginning and I’ll stop you if you go overboard.”

♣

Noelle’s brain cells had fried. 

After a strenuous lecture on dates by their “master in romance”, she couldn’t think anymore. Even with Vanessa’s so called “support” (which consisted in nuancing and explaining that it wasn’t an exact science and that what counted was guts more than the steps Finral was describing), she felt close to snap. The amount of information he’d pushed onto her was too high and Noelle had come to the conclusion that dating was way too complicated and that maybe she was better off single. 

That kiss and confession had made everything _weird_. Well. Weirder. Things were going smoothly with Asta before… She stopped. She tried to recall when, exactly, things were going smoothly. Probably before she got her tattoo. She resumed her walk. That proved her point all the more. Love was the problem. 

“Ah Noelle!” Asta said, waving “Perfect timing!” 

This was _not_ perfect timing at all. All she wanted was to lie down and stop thinking about dates. Or love. Or anything, really. Asta stopped in front of her and the grin on his face faded away. 

“You’re okay?” he asked

“Yes. What is it?”

He blinked, confused, before deciding to go on with what he wanted to say, “So, tomorrow’s a day off…”

Noelle backed away instinctively. 

“And uh, I was thinking of going to Hadge for the day…”

Wh… what?! Wasn’t it too… too early to meet his family?! Sure, he’d met _hers_ already, but they were Magic Knights, it was within the framework of their duties… during meetings, or even on the battlefield… and they weren’t… _together_ at the time. If they were together right now, actually, they still hadn’t talked it out? They needed to talk, didn't they? And going all the way to that small village to meet them… Noelle felt a deep blush settle on her cheeks. She wasn’t ready to meet them _officially._ Not yet. Finral had said meeting the parents was supposed to be way later in the relationship! Wasn’t Asta cutting corners?! But he did kiss her before confessing too! Was it supposed to happen in this order? 

“Is that ok with you?”

Noelle opened her mouth and for an instant, she felt like blurting all of her thoughts onto him. But then she stared into his eyes, lime orbs so full of hope… She closed her mouth. He looked so happy, so eager to go home… she relaxed. After all, if he was with her, it should be fine. It would be fine. She could rely on him, she knew that. So she nodded prudently, a small smile curling her lips. He was beaming. 

“Nice! Thanks! And, you? Um... what did you plan for your day off?”

Noelle’s grin turned into a strained smile. _What?_

Asta kept on, “I think Vanessa is free too… maybe you’ll go somewhere?”

That was the moment Noelle understood that she had… misunderstood. And she felt so, so, _so_ terribly stupid for that. She could feel her ears grow hotter and hotter at the realization that _of course_ he wasn’t inviting her to go with him? It was too soon? They hadn’t even been dating for a day? But still she… she had thought… But he had phrased it so strangely too! His choice of words! And he didn’t even _think_ she could have taken it any other way. Why would he even ask her _permission_ to go visit his family?! Noelle closed her eyes and massaged her temples. Finral’s talk and now that… this was giving her a headache. 

“Noelle?”

The last thing she wanted was to take it out on him and regret it later. 

“Sorry, I’m tired,” she answered flatly, “I’ll just go back to my room.”

She left him here, in the middle of the common room… not understanding a thing. 

♣

“So, you’re not going on a date?”

Vanessa sighed. She had seen Asta leave in the morning, alone, so she had guessed that the whole "first date" deal wouldn't happen on that day. The witch was disappointed, that was for sure, but Noelle looked straight up despaired. The water mage had let her head fall on the table and was fiddling with the stem of the glass next to her. 

“Apparently not.” she answered “I feel so stupid.”

The witch scoffed and sat down across her, “Why didn’t you tell him?”

“Tell him what?”

“That you wanted to go on a date. He’s never going to guess it, you know.”

Noelle took a moment to answer, then said, “I don’t know. Perhaps I should have. But I _really_ thought he was going to...”

“Well, you can’t help it if he wants to visit his family. I have some errands to run, why don’t you come with me?”

Noelle deadpanned, “I don’t feel like leaving the hideout.”

Vanessa sighed once more, “It’s ok, you misunderstood, it happens. You’re disappointed— honestly, so am I— but you don’t have to spend the rare days off you get _brooding_ over it.”

Noelle wasn’t moving. She let her hand rest next to the glass, defeated. “Guess I’ll just train today.”

Vanessa snickered. “You sure look like you’re gonna train.”

Noelle glared at her before straightening up and settling in a proper sitting position. Vanessa couldn’t hold back her laughter as her right cheek was red from being pressed against the table.

“What?”

“Nothing. You’re coming with me today.”

Noelle sighed and offered her squad mate a thin smile “Looks like you won’t get me off the hook anyway.”

♣

The morning was uneventful. Noelle tagged along with Vanessa who had an incredible number of things to purchase in both the legal and black markets. It genuinely looked like most of her war rewards were going to be put into the various herbs, ointments and potions available. When finally Vanessa had everything, they headed back to the hideout and, true enough, tiredness aside, Noelle was in better spirits than when she had woken up and realized she'd be going through her day off alone. 

But still. She simply wanted to spend more time with him. Was that too much to ask? It was true that they didn’t have to be glued to each other all the time but… they didn’t have that many days off with the reconstruction of the kingdom, and it would certainly not be better now that they were senior magic knights… 

He could’ve taken her with him. 

Remembering what Vanessa had said about not brooding on her days off, Noelle got up and attempted to find a distraction. Walking down the corridors, she noticed that the library door was ajar, so she entered and found Finral bent over a book. He looked like he needed a break. Well, perfect, she could use some light chitchat. Light. No lecture this time.

She sat across him and peeked at what he was reading. There were papers scattered around chaotically, some sheets sticking out from massive volumes, and she easily made out what he was doing.

“How’s the preparation for the royal hearing going?” she asked

Finral jumped, startled, then smiled, “Ah, it’s you. It’s going okay, I think.”

She took one of his sheets, read through the words. These things had been drilled into her since childhood, but she guessed nobles didn’t receive the same education. Or maybe Finral hadn't been the studious type... which honestly, she could see. Finral sighed and gave up on whatever he was doing.

“Do you think I have a chance?”

“Your marriage is arranged, it’s only a formality.” she said while putting down the sheet

“You know the heads, don’t you? Who do you think I should look out for?”

Noelle pondered the question. She didn’t know them too well. Even her brother was a mystery more often than not.

“I don’t know Leonard very well, but I still think that the King will be the worst because he won’t care about your achievements as a magic knight. The Silvas and Vermillions should at least respect that. Nozel will.”

“I saved his little sister during the war, your brother should be on my side automatically, no?” Finral said with a wink

Noelle scoffed, “Yeah, I’m not sure that’ll be enough.”

Finral smiled before ruffling through his sheets. Noelle watched the mess on the table. She knew he’d been taking etiquette lessons and history classes at the Vaudes, but she never thought he’d do some extra studying. He had changed so much since she’d met him... he looked so determined now. 

“How was the date?” he said suddenly, not looking up from what he was reading “I thought you’d be back a lot later. Did you put yesterday’s lessons into practice?”

Noelle cocked an eyebrow, “I was just accompanying Vanessa.”

Finral looked up, puzzled. She searched his eyes, confused at his reaction. 

“You didn’t go on a date with Asta?”

Noelle shook her head. Finral frowned, “Uh? Weird.”

 _Right?_ Even Finral thought so. 

♣

That day off was _never ending_. 

Noelle was lying down on her stomach, head buried in the cushion of the sofa, vanquished. She was bored to death. The hideout was so quiet she had started wondering if it really was the Black Bulls base.

She’d let Finral study in peace and spent the rest of the afternoon training because Vanessa was out like a light on the other sofa, and all the other Bulls were either away on a mission or busy. She had nothing else to do. 

Maybe she could train some more. She was trying to find some motivation to roll off the sofa when she heard a swoosh outside, one she knew really well: Asta’s sword, the one he used to fly. She would’ve straightened up normally, greeting whatever member who would come back, too happy to not be alone anymore. But somehow, she didn’t feel like it. She kept her head down, her left arm hanging down the sofa, her fingers grazing the dusty floor. 

The door opened and she heard the sound of his boots hurrying on the stones. She sighed silently. She was still glad someone was back at last. Or maybe she was glad _he_ was back at last. 

“Hey Noelle!”

She raised her head as she heard how close his voice was. And indeed, his face was right in front of her, his chin cocked on the armrest. Red coloured his cheeks, proving that he had hurried back and the strong wind had grazed him. For a split-second, she considered how early it still was and thought that maybe, he’d come back sooner to see her. 

“You’re tired?”

Noelle shook her head prudently. She couldn’t help but stare down at his lips and how close they were, how within reach they were. They’d only kissed once, briefly, before deciding to work on their mission report. She wanted to try and take her time now, press her lips against his. She remembered his strong hand on the back of her neck, the other on her hip. She wanted to touch him too now. To feel him close.

“Noelle?”

She blinked a few times. Damn. She hadn’t heard him. 

“Sorry, what?”

He chuckled, “You’re acting weird.” 

A thin smile curled her lips, but she didn’t say anything. Honestly, he was right. She was acting weird. She was feeling weird. All of this was, just like he’d just said, weird. They really needed to talk about that kiss and that confession. 

Then he repeated, “Do you have time right now? Can I take you somewhere?”

Noelle’s heart skipped a beat.

“Sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “It was not a perfect timing at all” can sum up the entirety of that fic.
> 
> I pondered for a long time whether or not I should include Finral's lecture into the chapter and then I thought it would be the most clownesque retelling of a "How to date" wikihow page and decided to spare you that excruciating experience.
> 
> Also, yeah, they still suck at communicating? That, fortunately, didn't disappear overnight. Fortunately because: I love them and their misunderstandings.  
> They're my favourite idiots <3


	8. First date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it's White Day today, for whatever White Day is (does anyone actually celebrate White Day in the West?) so here, have Asta and Noelle's first date, where an elephant I kinda forgot was in the room is addressed.

_Crap. Crap. Crap. It’s happening._

With no warning at all, here they were, walking around a nice small town in the noble realm, yeeted out of the base and into a portal by a smug Finral. Sure, she _wanted_ that date. She’d done nothing but _long_ for that date all day. But that was a surprise she hadn’t been ready for. He could have, at least, warned her prior.

“This way!” Asta said

She looked at the narrow stairs and at the obscure path he intended for them to take. She was sceptical. But he sounded sure, so she followed after a quiet sigh. They were magic knights anyway, they could fly, they could fight, everything would be fine. It was only a small town in the Clover Kingdom. These were peaceful times now. And they were together. 

The stairs were slippery and unstable, stony steps with plenty of moss. When finally she reached the top, completely out of breath, she wondered why they had bothered climbing like that. Asta had been doing nothing but lead the way and mumble directions to himself. Where were they going, exactly?

“Um… alright, I think it’s here!”

He grabbed her hand suddenly, leading the both of them closer to what looked like an old fence. That place must have been a lookout point back in the days, but everything was in shambles. The bench was almost completely destroybed, with pieces of wood lying on the ground. Looking around, it seemed clear that this place had been impacted by the Eye of the Midnight Sun’s attack and hadn’t been rebuilt just yet. Despite all their efforts, reconstruction took time and with the war and their shortage of magic knights, it would only be so natural that a lookout point wouldn’t be a priority. 

Still, Asta had decided to bring her here. And he looked so happy too. She wondered why.

“Noelle, look! It’s so cool!” he said, letting go of her hand to point his finger

She followed his gaze and gasped. What lay before them was stunning. A lake and the lights of the town softly grazing the surface. They could hear the sound of townsfolk partying outside, the faint beat of music too. It took her back. It reminded her of that banquet back in Heart, the last perfect moment right before everything started going south. 

“It’s beautiful” Noelle said

“Right?” Asta replied excitedly “I knew Finral knew some good spots but this is too cool!”

Noelle flinched, turning to him with an eyebrow raised, “You asked Finral?”

“Yep. Yesterday, during the ceremony.”

She felt her stomach flutter. He _had_ planned this. He had intended for this date to happen. He hadn’t just wrapped up a little earlier at Hadge and decided he’d simply take her somewhere because she happened to be there. He had _meant_ for this date to happen. 

A smile curled her lips. 

“And we’re alone, too.” Asta said, his voice a little lower

Noelle blushed. There really was no one. They’d been alone before. Plenty of times. But it was night, and they were really… it really was like… like they were the only two people in the world. They were alone for the first time since… the kissing incident. 

She had to tell him. He had done it. First. _Again._ She owed it to him. She wanted to tell him, she wanted him to _know_ how important he was. 

“Asta…”

She turned but found him laying down a blanket on the grass. He sat down and tapped the spot next to him, inviting her to sit too. Noelle swallowed and settled next to him in silence. 

He wasn’t talking. He usually spoke a lot more. Nonsense, idiocies, all that. But he kept silent, staring at the view in front of them, the destroyed fence, the soft shimmer of the moonlight on the lake water. 

Finral’s advice suddenly came back to her. _No silence. If you’re nervous, start with small talk._

“So, uh… how was your family?” Noelle said, turning to him

He chuckled, still staring in front of him, “Oh, they’re fine. Yuno told them I hadn’t been _that_ hurt… but Father was still scared! He had me promise to write more… and better, too. He thought I had some permanent motor function impairment because of how bad I wrote…”

She smiled. Every time he talked about his family, he seemed so happy. So proud too, and grateful. It lit up his eyes. Now, she really wanted to meet them, the people who raised such a nice boy. But in a split second, his smile faded, and he looked serious. 

“I… uh… didn’t go only to see them.”

He looked down, his arms were still circling his knees, but he brought them closer to his chest, even so slightly. There was something… small in him at that moment. She couldn’t exactly pinpoint what, or how, or why but that was the word that came to mind. Small. Touching. He looked unsure. That vulnerable part of him… she wasn’t used to it just yet. 

“I needed to confirm something. About Sister Lily. You know I… thought I loved her?”

Noelle’s heart sank to her stomach. Oh please. Please. _Please. Don’t say another word._

“I needed to confirm I didn’t. And tell her too. I just… I wanted to be sure of it so I could be… fully with you. Now, I’m sure of it. I love you.”

Noelle’s eyes widened in surprise, and she held her breath. What did he? What does… How did he even manage to say it so easily? To her face? Her throat tightened, as he broke eye contact with her to look down. That was two to zero now.

“But there are so many things I don’t know. Like if we are _dating_ now, or what dating is supposed to be, or how I’m supposed to act with you now. It’s all very new and I asked Father— oh, he said I should bring you with me at the church next time, by the way— he did give me one piece of advice. He said… that I wasn’t facing everything alone anymore and that I should discuss this with you.” 

He looked up, risked a glance at Noelle. She was listening, silently staring at him, her expression unreadable. 

“Are we dating?”

Noelle didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. She had no idea. In all honesty, she was dumbfounded he’d ask that to her. Asta kept staring. They stared at each other. For a long, long, _very_ long time. Until Noelle couldn’t stand this anymore and started giggling.

“What?” Asta asked

“Why are you asking _me_ that?”

“I thought you’d know.”

“That doesn’t depend only on me, Asta!”

The puzzleness on his face morphed into a wide smile. Noelle calmed down, then took one long breath. She felt calmer now. 

Thank God she loved an idiot.

“We are.” she decided

“Oh, ok.”

Silence again. Noelle looked at the lake below them, at the town, while fiddling with her fingers nervously. 

“You could be a little more enthusiastic about it, don’t you think?”

“About what?”

“Us dating!”

“Well, I don’t really know what that means. What’s dating anyway?”

Noelle thought about it, then decided it was too long to explain so she said, “Ask Finral.” She stopped. Thought for a second. “No, actually, don’t ask Finral.”

He wouldn’t survive that lecture with that small brain of his. 

Asta asked, “Is it, like, holding hands and kissing?”

“That’s... uh… part of it....?”

Asta contemplated the answer. He did want to hold her hand. He did want to kiss her again. Maybe this whole thing was more natural than he thought.

“What’s in the basket?” Noelle asked

Asta raised an eyebrow, then settled said basket between them, opening it.

“We made sweets this afternoon, so I brought some. I know you like sweets so I thought… maybe you’re not hungry, though.”

“I’m fine. I’ll have some.”

“Cool.”

He passed her a muffin and bit into one for him. They stayed in silence. 

Silence wasn't awkward between them. Usually. But the uneasiness grew somehow. Asta couldn't find a thing to say, and it felt like Noelle was trying to say something, but wouldn’t. So he tried addressing the problem.

“I can’t read your ki half of the time.” he admitted

She huffed, “I noticed. Honestly, I don’t want you to read my ki if you can refrain.”

Asta chuckled, then his expression sobered and he started pulling the grass next to him. 

“You know you can tell me anything, right? I want you to trust me enough to tell me what’s on your mind.”

“No, I trust you, Asta. That’s not… the problem.”

Noelle exhaled slowly, trying to slow down her pounding heart.

“I…”

 _Crap_. She stopped short as her voice nearly cracked. She closed her eyes, breathed in, opened her eyes, forcing them to get lost in the lakewater in front of them. No. If she said it, she needed to look at him. She turned and looked. 

“I… love you too.”

Her whole face felt on fire, but she’d said it. She saw a deep blush settle on his cheeks too, and he grinned as he reached for her hand. She closed her eyes. Now she couldn’t face him anymore. Her mouth kept running on its own. 

“And I’ll talk to you more, I promise. The truth… the truth is I don’t have a clue what we’re supposed to do either. I asked Vanessa, and Finral too, and it still wasn’t clear… if anything they got me even more confused.”

Asta chuckled, squeezing her hand as he got closer to her. 

“I don’t know a thing either! We can figure it out as we go, can’t we?”

Thinking back on their first mission, how they’d struggled to fight, at their lack of spells and experience, at how they couldn’t fly, how they had no idea what they were expected to do, or what they were supposed to do... they’d grown together, back to back, supporting each other as they made their way up. 

Noelle chuckled in turn. Yes, they’d figure it out together.

Like they had always done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please they’re adorable. They really are my favourite idiots. 
> 
> It’s a bit shorter because I didn’t want to include too much chitchat (fluff, what for? I only know plot and character development). I had no idea how this first date would be going, so I ended up having them... address the whole thing. But at last the getting together part is over. I’m no perfectionist but definitely a rewriter, so I know for a fact I’ll go over this chapter one day (when I figure out how to write romance properly).
> 
> On another note, the publishing has caught up with the writing because of, well, life being hectic and all. The next chapter is nothing but a backbone for now. Hopefully I’ll still put it out next week. Anyway, look forward for more romcom hehe, and until then, take care.


End file.
